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MARIETTA - Democrat Brian Whalin and Republican Stephanie Lang outlined their priorities for governmental transparency, injection well oversight and county development as they compete for Washington County Commissioner expired term, in the Nov. 3 election.
Brian Whalin
Whalin is a retired physician and the previous owner of Quick Care from 1985, until it was sold to WVU in 2019, said he was provoked to take action "by Trump's second term as President," and thought it was best to take community action "rather than sitting on the sidelines."
Whalin has served on the Tri-County Rural Water & Sewer board for the past 10 years, and has concerns on the risks injection wells pose on the county's water supply.
"I think there's a lot of people who are really uncomfortable with (potentially) getting toxins in our drinking water, and that's something I'm quite motivated about," he said.
He is also concerned with the Waterford Data Center project, saying "they've been very opaque and it’s difficult when we don't even know who we're dealing with." He said allegedly "It's going to be a facility that is going to cover several acres and have very few actual employees after the initial build out, so I don't know why we need this."
Whalin criticized the use of NDA's regarding the project and stated that "I will not sign a non-disclosure agreement," he said.
In terms of development for Washington County, Whalin intends to address homelessness within the community. He said while there is not a large population of individuals experiencing homelessness, there is capacity for assistance.
"I believe there is opioid relief settlement money still available and room at the County Home, I just don't know why it hasn't been addressed," he said.
He also wants to bring additional cannabis dispensaries to the county in; Belpre, New Matamoras, and New Port.
"The dispensary in Marietta brings around $40,000 a month in taxes, and to me that’s just free money," he said, "I would like to do that to get us more money to do the things we want to do without raising taxes."
"I believe that the government and we have an obligation to each other to make life better for us. ... I want to help all citizens," he said.
Stephanie Lang
Lang served as a board member for the Fort Frye Local School District for 12 years until 2025, she said "I still wanted to be civically engaged. ... I think that it’s important to be involved."
Lang said she prioritizes small government and bringing prosperity in different forms to Washington County.
"It's important, though, that we have small government. There's checks and balances. What I want to bring to the county is prosperity, and prosperity (doesn't) always mean financial prosperity, but it can mean peace ... and good health," she said.
She also commented on her priority of fiscal responsibility, alleging that in the first quarter of 2026 "the general fund for the county commissioners was negative. ... We need to live within our means. We need to just be very vigilant of how we appropriate funds and how we spend money."
Lang stated that when she began her campaign in Aug. 2025, she found a main concern for safe drinking water.
She said "That's extremely important to me because it's vital to life."
Lang said that she signed the three year moratorium for stopping all injection well activity in Oct of 2025, "I found that this is not a democrat or republican issue. This is a people’s issue."
She said while she signed the moratorium she is not against drilling, but believes "we should take care of our own waste, but somehow we've got to curtail that interstate commerce from dumping in (allegedly) radioactive toxic brine into our county."
Lang also said she would not sign an NDA, and she "believes in full transparency" and said that "I am a woman of faith with honesty, integrity, and transparency."
Early in-person voting for Ohio’s Nov. 3 general election began Oct. 6 and continues through Nov. 1. Voters should bring an unexpired photo ID. Locations and the complete schedule are available through county elections offices or at VoteOhio.gov.